Hockey stick

ABSTRACT

A hockey stick in which the end of the handle adapted to be joined to the blade, forms a wedge and the blade is made of two laminations or plies overlapping the handle wedge, resulting in a stronger joint and easier and less expensive manufacture of the hockey stick.

I United States Patent. ns1 3,677,542 Michaud [451 July 18, 1972 [s4]HOCKEY STICK 766,831 1/1957 Great Britain 273/167 R V 112,706 li/ 1947Netherlands ..273/67 A [72] "Wemmnd: Michggdclsifi Cam St She" 43,457s/196o Poland 273/67 A 0 e Q c ana a 46,771 3/1963 P61and..........273/67 A [22] Filed; May 11, 1970 1,093,528 12/ 1967 Great Britain.....273/67 A 447,077 3/ 1948 Canada ..273/67 A [2l] Appl. No.: 39,191459,578 9/1949 Canada..... .....273/67 A 51,223 10/1966 Germany 273/67 A[521 ILS. Cl .....273/67 A [51] lnt. Cl. .A63b 59/12 [sa 1 Field ofSearch .273/67, 67 R-DC, Pmm'y @meer-Klima C- Pmkham 273/77 R, 80 R 167R ASSlSlnl xdmlner-Rlcl'iald J. Apley Attorney-Pierre Lesperance [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS [57] ABSTRACT 556,042 3/ 1896Briggs l.273/80 R X A hockey stick in which the end of the handleadapted to be 2,260,218 i0/ 1941 Evemden... ..273/67 A joined to theblade, forms a wedge and the blade is made of 2,504,242 4/1950 Yerger....273/67 A two laminations or plies overlapping the handle wedge,result- 2,730,367 1/ 1956 Bublik ....273/67 A ing in a stronger jointand easier and less expensive manufac- 3,489,412 1/1970 Franck et al..273/67 A ture ofthe hockey stick.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7 Claims, 5 Drawing gures 463,938 3/1950Canada ..273/67 A 476,214 8/1951 Canada .Patented Julyv 184, 1972/NvE/vToR Andre M/ CHAUD BY AGENT HOCKEY STICK The present inventionrelat to hockey sticks more particularly intended for use in the game ofhockey and it has for its chief object to provide an improved woodenstick having a stronger and yet more flexible joint between the handleand blade, while providing for easier and less expensive manufacturethan hockey stick constructions at present generally in use.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become moreapparent during the following disclosure and by referring to thedrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, with the handle broken away, of the hockeystick in accordance with the invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sections along lines 2-2 and 3-3 respectively ofFIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a partial back end elevation; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the stick.

In the drawings, like reference characters indicate like elementsthroughout.

The wooden blade of the stick consists of two plies or laminations 1 and2 glued, or otherwise adhered together, along a plane parallel to theplane of the blade and over the major portion of the blade, as indicatedby the joint surface 3. As in conventional hockey stick construction,the length of the blade is between five and twelve times the width ofthe wooden handle 5, said handle width being defined as the dimensiontransverse to handle 5 and in the general plane of the blade.

Each blade lamination l and 2 is preferably made of one piece of woodwith the grain runru'ng longitudinally of the blade. Each lamination land 2 has substantially the same thickness throughout the length of theblade, but tapers across the blade from the lower edge 8 of the blade tothe upper edge 9 thereof.

The heel portion 10 ofthe plies 1 and 2 forms an angular extensionterminated by a feather edge 7 which is disposed above the upper edge 9and substantially parallel thereto. Thus, this extension above upperedge 9 continues to taper upwardly to form the feather edge 7.

The elongated handle or shaft 5 has its grain running longitudinallythereof, and its end portion adapted to join with the blade at the usualangle used in known hockey sticks, is tapered both longitudinally of thehandle and longitudinally of the blade to form a wedge 4 whichterminates at 4' as a feather edge which is substantially parallel tothe long axis of the handle 5. Feather edge 4' is offset from the topedge surface ofthe handle 5 in the direction of the toe of the blade, soas to provide sufficient width for the wedge 4. Preferably, the width ofthe wedge 4 in a direction transverse to the handle and in the plane ofthe blade is about 3% times the width ofthe handle.

The wedge 4 is inserted between the plies l and 2 and adhered thereto bymeans of water-proof glue or synthetic resin adhesive.

In order to save wood when making the wedge 4, a separate piece is gluedto the handle proper along a line which forms an extension of the innerupper edge of the handle. Because the separate piece, which completeswedge 4, has a substantial thickness, it will rmly adhere and be rigidwith the handle proper.

Once the separate piece has been adhered to the handle, the handle andwedge are submitted to a chamfering operation at its outer surfaces toform wedge 4. Similarly, it is easy to chamfer the outer surfaces oflaminations l and 2. After these operations have been effected, theinside faces ofthe laminations l and 2 and the main side faces of thewedge 4 of the handle are coated with an adhesive and the three piecesjoined together. After the pieces are cured, they are subjected to theusual finishing operation to obtain the finish product.

The blade laminations l and 2 are preferably longitudinally bent to forma blade with a longitudinal curve, as shown in FIG. 5, as found inpresent-day hockey sticks which permit more precise shooting of thepuck. Obviously, the blade could be made straight, if so desired.

The resulting hockey stick is easier and less expensive to manufacturethan conventional hockey sticks and has a blade and joint of increasedstrength and longer life. It also pennits easier longitudinal bending ofthe blade.

As noted above, chamfering of the two blade laminations and of the lowerend of the stick is much easier, because it is carried out on theoutside surfaces ofI these pieces and there is no diicult chamfering ofa slot, as in conventional hockey sticks, wherein the handle is alwaysprovided with a tapered slot or splicing recess at its lower end.

The joint between the blade and the handle is stronger than inconventional sticks, because it is poible to overlap the blade with thehandle over a much greater area than in the stick of usual construction,wherein the wedge of the blade enters the tapered recess of the stick.In fact, in conventional sticks, the width of the heel portion of thehandle taken in the direction transverse to the handle proper, is equalto a maximum of only two times the width of the handle proper, comparedto 3% times for the wedge portion of the stick in the construction inaccordance with the present invention.

This follows from the fact that the tines of the fork produced by therecess made in the handle of the conventional stick cannot be spreadapart to receive the tapered wedge portion of the blade, because thiswould split the wood of the handle and, therefore, the tines have to bemade very thin and, therefore, cannot extend to any substantial distancealong the blade. On the contrary, in the joint of the invention, thesingle wedge portion of the handle which replaces the two tines of theconventional handle, may therefore have twice the thickness of saidtines and can extend much farther along the blade until it ends in thefeathered edge 4'.

Due to this large contact area between the blade laminations and thehandle, it is possible to make the joint of smaller width for increasedflexibility of the hockey stick while preserving the strength of thejoint of conventional sticks.

The joint of the invention is longer lasting, because there is noexposed feather edge in the blade region, as in conventional sticks. Inthe stick of the present invention, the only exposed feather edges areedges 7 which are well above the blade and are thus not as exposed tobreakage, because they are not as much subjected to impact as the bladeproper.

Because the blade is made of two laminations, it is much stronger than ablade made of a single piece of wood.

I claim:

1. A wooden hockey stick comprising an elongated handle and an elongatedblade having one end portion joined and secured to one end portion ofthe handle and making an obtuse angle with the latter, said blade havinga length of between five and twelve times the width of said handle, saidhandle width being defined as the dimension transverse to said handleand in the general plane of said blade, said one end of said handletapering longitudinally outwardly of said handle and taperinglongitudinally of said blade to form an integral wedge terminating in afeather edge along a line laterally offset from said handle, said blademade of at least two laminations co-extensive with said blade, saidwedge disposed between and adhered to said two laminations to beembraced thereby, said laminations protruding from said feather edge anddirectly adhering to each other at their protruding portion.

2. A wooden hockey stick as claimed in claim 1, wherein said featheredge is substantially straight and substantially parallel to thelongitudinal axis of said handle.

3. A wooden hockey stick as claimed in claim 2, wherein said wedge has awidth at least three times said width of said handle, said wedge widthbeing defined as the dimension transverse to said handle and in thegeneral plane of said blade.

4. A wooden hockey stick as claimed in claim 3, wherein each bladelamination has a substantially uniform thickness longitudinally of saidblade and tapers from the lower edge to the upper edge of said blade.

lninA: tlf

dinal curved blade.

7. A wooden hockey stick as claimed in claim l, wherein said laminatjonsare longitudinally curved to form a longitudinally curved blade.

1. A wooden hockey stick comprising an elongated handle and an elongatedblade having one end portion joined and secured to one end portion ofthe handle and making an obtuse angle with the latter, said blade havinga length of between five and twelve times the width of said handle, saidhandle width being defined as the dimension transverse to said handleand in the generAl plane of said blade, said one end of said handletapering longitudinally outwardly of said handle and taperinglongitudinally of said blade to form an integral wedge terminating in afeather edge along a line laterally offset from said handle, said blademade of at least two laminations coextensive with said blade, said wedgedisposed between and adhered to said two laminations to be embracedthereby, said laminations protruding from said feather edge and directlyadhering to each other at their protruding portion.
 2. A wooden hockeystick as claimed in claim 1, wherein said feather edge is substantiallystraight and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of saidhandle.
 3. A wooden hockey stick as claimed in claim 2, wherein saidwedge has a width at least three times said width of said handle, saidwedge width being defined as the dimension transverse to said handle andin the general plane of said blade.
 4. A wooden hockey stick as claimedin claim 3, wherein each blade lamination has a substantially uniformthickness longitudinally of said blade and tapers from the lower edge tothe upper edge of said blade.
 5. A wooden hockey stick as claimed inclaim 4, wherein said one end portion of each lamination forms a featheredge merging with said handle at a higher level than the upper edge ofsaid blade and substantially parallel with said upper edge.
 6. A woodenhockey stick as claimed in claim 5, wherein said laminations arelongitudinally curved to form a longitudinal curved blade.
 7. A woodenhockey stick as claimed in claim 1, wherein said laminations arelongitudinally curved to form a longitudinally curved blade.